Has Mercor been involved in any recent safety incidents, recalls, or legal actions?

1. Mass contractor cuts and pay changes that triggered public outcry

In November 2025 multiple outlets reported Mercor abruptly ended a large AI-labeling project working on Meta content, informing thousands of contract data labelers they would no longer work on that engagement and later offering some roles back at substantially lower hourly rates — a move contractors described as pay cuts that upended livelihoods (Business Insider; Forbes; dev.ua) ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Reports say workers previously earned as much as $60/hour on some projects and were being rehired at rates reported around $16/hour, prompting criticism and coverage of the human cost of hyperscale AI training work ^{[3] [2]}.

2. Legal battle with Scale AI over alleged trade‑secret theft

Separately, Scale AI filed suit in September 2025 accusing a former Scale employee and Mercor of misappropriating more than 100 confidential documents and using them to pursue Scale’s customers; the allegation frames Mercor as the target of a corporate-espionage-style complaint (TechCrunch; Bloomberg; Axios; Inc.) ^{[4] [5] [6] [8]}. Mercor’s co‑founder Surya Midha told reporters the company denied any interest in Scale’s trade secrets and said the matter was under investigation, while Scale’s statements criticized Mercor’s handling of the employee and the documents ^{[6] [4]}.

3. What the incidents show about risk vectors — labor, reputation, and competition

The two stories highlight different vulnerabilities: operational decisions that affect gig and contract labor at scale (sudden project cancellations and pay changes) create reputational and regulatory risks for platforms that rely on large pools of human labelers ^{[1] [2]}. Meanwhile, rapid hiring from competitors and aggressive customer pursuit in a winner‑take‑most market produce legal exposure, as illustrated by Scale’s suit alleging poached documents and unfair competition ^{[4] [5]}.

4. Contradictory statements and areas where reporting differs

Media coverage records tensions in narratives: Scale presents a firm legal claim of stolen documents and improper conduct, while Mercor’s leadership frames hires from Scale as normal recruiting and denies using trade secrets — both positions are quoted in reporting ^{[4] [6]}. On the contractor-pay issue, Mercor is reported to have disputed some details in at least one account even as multiple outlets and contractor interviews documented the mass project end and rehiring at lower rates ^{[2] [3] [1]}.

5. No evidence in provided sources of product safety recalls or government safety alerts

Search results include federal recall databases and extensive automotive/consumer recall reporting, but none of the supplied sources link Mercor to any safety recalls, FDA alerts, or NHTSA actions; the company appears instead in labor and litigation coverage ^{[7] [9]}. Available sources do not mention any Mercor‑related product safety incidents or formal recall notices ^[7].

6. How to interpret incomplete information and next steps for verification

The record in these sources is strong on the contractor pay dispute and the Scale lawsuit but limited on final legal outcomes and on any regulatory investigations: TechCrunch, Bloomberg, Axios and other outlets report the suit’s filing, while Business Insider and Forbes present worker accounts and corporate responses, but none provide court judgments or regulatory rulings in the sourced items ^{[4] [5] [6] [1] [2]}. For a definitive status check you should consult court filings in the Northern District of California for the Scale complaint and Mercor’s formal statements or SEC/ regulator filings if and when they are available — those documents are not in the current reporting ^[4].

7. Competing perspectives and implicit agendas to watch

Coverage comes from business press and outlets that frequently prioritize labour and competition angles; Scale, as plaintiff, has an incentive to frame the issue as theft to protect customers, while Mercor as defendant and a fast‑growing startup has incentives to minimize reputational damage and emphasize growth narratives — readers should weigh direct statements from each party against independent reporting ^{[6] [4] [1]}. Contractor testimonials focus on individual hardship; corporate spokespeople emphasize scale and strategy — both are part of the story ^{[2] [1]}.

Bottom line: reporting in 2025 documents significant labor upheaval at Mercor and at least one major lawsuit alleging trade‑secret theft by a former Scale employee and Mercor, but the supplied sources do not show any product‑safety recalls or federal safety alerts involving Mercor ^{[1] [2] [4] [5] [7]}.